Snuff out the Hubble Bubble

Posted May 9, 2008

A commentary by Hansel New

Complete the following sentence: Smoking is... Exotic?  Cool?  Social?  Relaxing? 

None of the above—unless you're a marketer for Big Tobacco! Yet a new smoking trend is catching on and it's attracting more young men and women to the smoking scene than the brawny Marlboro™ man could lasso in by himself. 

It's called hookah smoking, and young people in college towns and big cities throughout the Unites States and other countries are getting hooked on hookah. Originating in the Middle East some 400 years ago, the hookah is also known by several other names such as narghile, shisha, and "hubble bubble." 

If you haven't yet heard of a hookah, your friends probably have—and perhaps some already smoke one. 

Hoopla over Hookah

A hookah is a type of water pipe with a "coolness factor" that cigarettes lack.  The smoke passes through water before being inhaled. Cool, huh? (Some people are easily impressed.) This action moisturizes and cools the smoke, making it more tolerable for people who might choke on caustic cigarette smoke.   

Helping out the coolness factor is the Baskin-Robbins™ type variety of hookah tobacco available. Flavors include apple, mint, cappuccino and melon, making the hookah that much more appealing to the younger crowd. 

The natural curiosity for other cultures also attracts some people. The appearance of the hookah draws heavily from its Middle Eastern origins – some have special designs, others are multicolored, and all are hard to miss by passers by. 

Hubble Bubble Trouble

The coolness factor of hookah is simply a smokescreen for the dangers of this and every other type of smoking. 

Some smokers think that because the hubble bubble smoke passes through water before being inhaled that it is somehow less dangerous than cigarettes.  Not true!  Water does not filter out the hookah smoke, which contains harmful and toxic compounds like tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals, and cancer-causing chemicals.

According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "water pipe smoking delivers the addictive drug nicotine and is at least as toxic as cigarette smoke." In fact, typical hookah tobacco contains three times the nicotine of one cigarette according to Dr. John Spangler, director of tobacco intervention programs at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. 

So, even the casual hookah smoker is more likely to become addicted to nicotine, given the typical one-hour smoking sessions. 

In fact, some studies show that during these smoking sessions a person inhales 100-200 times more smoke than that of a single cigarette! It's like binge smoking. The second-hand smoke is no less dangerous.

Self-Extinguish

What does the Bible say about smoking the hookah or hubble bubble?

Not everything that looks or sounds good is good for us. We must control our impulses.  By exercising divine wisdom vertical thinkers extinguish the downward pulls of the self. "Wisdom is a fountain of life to him who has it; but the punishment of the foolish is their foolish behavior" (Proverbs 16:22).

It's foolish to abuse your body by smoking. Snuff out the hubble bubble! In fact, to learn what else to snuff out read Puff, Puff…Cough, Cough!

God wants us to cherish and care for our physical bodies. He can then work in us more effectively to be His instruments of fairness, love, justice, and purity.  God wants your full potential! Use His wisdom in your life and let Him help you reach it. VT